Mileven One-Shots

More Than A Friend Pt. 2

"El? El what's going on?" Hopper asked from outside her door.

"Go away!" El cried. She was curled up on her bed in fetal position, holding a pillow against her and crying into it.

"Come on, talk to me," he said.

"I said go away!" She screamed.

"Let me try," Joyce said quietly. Joyce gently knocked on the door before stepping in and closing it again, not letting any of the guys in.

"El, honey, it's Joyce," she said. She walked over and sat on the end of El's bed and El avoided looking at her.

"What's going on?" Joyce asked. El sat up and tucked her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth to try and regain some control.

"I...I...I kissed Mike..." El whimpered when she finally stopped sobbing enough to speak. Joyce felt herself nearly choke. That is not at all what she expected it hear.

"Did he...not kiss you back? Is that why you're upset?" Joyce asked.

"I'm upset because I'm in love with my best friend and I just kissed him and I probably lost him forever!" El cried out. She buried her face back into her pillow immediately. She wanted to curl up and sink into oblivion. Even Joyce was at a complete loss for words.

"I don't have any super good advice for this situation. But I can say that I think you should talk to him. Let things cool down for a couple of days and then get together and talk about it. Get everything out in the open," Joyce said.

"And when he tells me he doesn't feel the same way about me, then what? Nothing will ever be the same," El cried.

"I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that nothing would change. Because things would. But things are going to be more awkward if you hold in the tension of having kissed him and you don't talk about it. If you want to, we'll have him here to talk. I can help you figure out what to say. But we'll figure this out, okay?" Joyce said. El nodded and leaned on her shoulder, still crying, but not as bad. She adored Joyce and loved finally having a motherly figure to help her and support her. Because she had to face the facts: Hopper would've been no help in a situation like this.

•••••

Having Mike over for that talk never happened. Every time Joyce brought it up, El panicked and pushed it off. And now, it was the evening of the dance, and El was at Max's house. They were getting ready together, doing each other's hair and makeup.

Max took El's hair out of the curlers she had put in them the night before. The gentle curls fell down just below El's collarbones and complimented her face shape and the neckline of the dress perfectly.

"Oh my goodness El, you look gorgeous!" Max said and clapped excitedly, proud of her work. Max had her own hair in gentle wavy curls as well, but her hair was three times as long as El's.

"Thank you Max," El said.

"Always," Max giggled as she cleaned a couple items off her desk.

"Max, can I tell you something? About why I've pulled away the last two weeks?" El said.

"Of course. You can tell me anything. What is it?" She asked, pulling a chair up and sitting across from El.

"So that day we went to the mall, Mike came and picked me up to take me home. And before I got out of his car when I got home...I kissed him..." El said.